This is a special YouTube edition of our weekly audio only Patreon exclusive podcast, the ‘Monday Moot’. However, as it’s a special occasion (the 50th Monday Moot!) we thought we’d share a YouTube version of the recording so you can get a little flavour of some of the exclusive content available to our Patreon supporters. Yes - it’s a shameless exc…

Every week we make an exclusive short podcast for our Patreon supporters called 'The Monday Moot'. It's a kind of a sandbox where we air our thoughts on aspects of prehistoric archaeology.Sometimes, those thoughts become worthy topics for a wider audience and this is one of those instances. Here, Michael & Rupert ask if the word 'henge' has an impa…

We take you to The Scottish Isles, Bohemia and South Carolina!More fingerprints on pottery have been found at the Ness of Brodgar and it turns out that they all belong to young adult men and that the most recent print to be found belonged to a thirteen year old boy!A team of archaeologists from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen have discover…

This is an excerpt from a longer YouTube interview conducted with Professor Timothy Darvill in August 2021.The argument over the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel doesn't go away and although it may seem that the general consensus is that it's a bad idea, that impression is incorrect. One authoritative archaeological voice is that of Tim Darvill's and here we…

Hope you’ll find it in your hearts to excuse the clickbaity title - but then again it is a truly valid use of the word ’alien’. The rocks in question are certainly not where they belong and pose a genuine mystery as to why they are where they have been found - down near Avebury henge in Wiltshire, 280 miles from their origin…

Here is our breakdown of Professor Darvill’s hypothesis that Stonehenge (in Stage 2 - 2,500BC) was constructed to be a monumental perpetual calendar whose purpose was to keep in pace with the solar year.By Michael Bott and Rupert Soskin

🟢 IF YOU'D LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE - SEE OUR CROWDFUNDING LINKS BELOW 🟢Dr. Lee Clare is the research co-ordinator and archaeologist in charge of the excavations at Göbekli Tepe. He took on the position of research coordinator of the DFG long-term project at Göbekli Tepe in 2015, and in 2019 moved to the DAI’s Istanbul Department where he is now acting c…

We talk with archaeologist Sue Greaney, Senior Properties Historian with English Heritage and Editor of PAST, the newsletter of the Prehistoric Society about her passion for archaeology and her responsibilities at Stonehenge and other sites managed by English Heritage.The main reason we wanted to get her on, though is that Sue is the author of a fa…

We're very proud to bring you our interview with Professor Alice Roberts - anatomist and biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham.Alice will need no introduction for many of you, but to understand why we were so thrilled that she agreed to be on the show, as per …

Our second interview with Tim Darvill and a riveting first-person deep dive through prehistoric archaeology from in-the-moment practical concerns of current practice, through to the more philosophical concerns confronting the modern day antiquarian. We talk about Stonehenge, long barrows, bluestones, emerging narratives for the Neolithic, prehistor…

More for your money in this Prehistory Flash: we've expanded the format to include more than one item to help return us to more of the podcast style delivery. Hope you enjoy!There will be video versions to follow.This time:Pythagorian geometry in Mesopotamia 1,000 before PythagorasNew finds at King Arthur's Stone in Herefordshireand possibly the ea…

This is ground breaking research from the Balkans where researchers are piecing together the apparently widespread use of cosmetics as far back as six and a half thousand years ago.Tiny ceramic bottles have been excavated across a wide region of the Balkans and Transdanubia, and as long ago as the 1930s it was suggested that they might be for cosme…

30,000 years ago, close to the banks of the river Danube, it seems that the saddest of events occurred to a family living there during the Paleolithic period. Michael and Rupert bring you some of the background to this story emerging from the latest aDNA study of remains found in the town of Krems in Austria.…

Welcome to another prehistory guys interview, introducing you to archaeologists and historians, all too often hidden behind the scenes, finding out what they’re up to while the world isn’t watching.This time we're talking with Dr Lee Bray, lead archaeologist for the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, south west England.Lee started out in geology befo…

12th feb 2021 BBc broadcast a programme hosted by Professor Alice Roberts called 'Stonehenge, the Lost Circle Revealed'.Both leading up to and afterwards, there was a flurry of headlines in the press ranging from the reasonably restrained to the outright sensational. To cut to the chase, the end result has been - to the dismay of many in the archae…

"Welcome to another prehistory guys interview, introducing you to people, often hidden in the background, whose work is really making a difference to our understanding of humanity in prehistory"Today we’re talking with Dr Kenny Brophy Senior lecturer of archaeology at the University of Glasgow. Kenny’s work focuses mainly on the British Neolithic, …

IT'S BACK!Rupert & I are delighted to present you with a recording of us producing our first audio podcast after a long break. We're back to our old format with Pushing Back the Boundaries, news, a central topic and finishing off with Stonehead of the Month and a bit of Whimsy.Scroll down for links to some source material.There is a video version o…

Despite any number of challenges over the past six years, including more recently the Covid lockdowns of course, Amanda has kept driving the project of giving the museum a complete overhaul and redesign, and with her team has created a breathtaking set of galleries that cover the full span of human history in the Cotswolds.One thing that makes Aman…

In fact, some of Tom’s recent research has even shed light on different funerary practices in the Bronze Age, revealing some fascinating discoveries about ways that people related to, or looked after the remains of their departed. (We first reported on this in a piece in the Prehistory Show #3. https://www.patreon.com/posts/prehistory-show-42771218…

The aim of these two chaps is to transform the economy of Caithness, no less - up in the North East corner of Scotland! And the medium by which they're going to achieve this? By building an Iron Age Broch of course!Crazy? Not so fast. There's method in their madness, but you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out why. Help support us and join…

However, she has a particular passion for Iron Age torcs, running a website with restorer Roland Williamson called The Big Book of Torcs. https://bigbookoftorcs.com/ There's no-one better with whom to explore the detail and peculiarities of these magnificent artefacts than Tess and 'talking torcs' is the central theme of this discussion.And then - …

Elizabeth Dale A.K.A. 'The Cornish Bird' can trace her heritage in Cornwall back more than 500 years. As you probably know, from a megalithic point of view, Cornwall is one of the most densely packed areas in the whole of the UK and if you visit Lizzie's blog 'The Cornish Bird' https://cornishbirdblog.com, you're sure to find her writing beautifull…

It was an absolute delight talking with Caroline & Tom about their insights into what it was like living in the Iron Age. This is archaeology from the other end of the barrel; actually living and working with the available foods, materials, pigments and technology gives an insight into prehistoric life that simply looking at archaeological remains …

We met Seren in 2019 at the Prehistoric Society’s 'Landscapes of the Dead' conference at the Society of Antiquaries in London where she gave a fantastic talk. In fact, the first thing Rupert said to Michael after her presentation was that he really wished she had been one of his lecturers!It really is no surprise that Seren was the youngest person …

We do try to bring you wide ranging areas of study and this month we’re delighted to be joined by Professor Duncan Garrow of Reading UniversityWe met Duncan at the Landscapes of the Dead conference back in November 2019 and knew we had to get him on the show. Apart from being a great speaker, he is another frontline archaeologist who makes you reco…

True to form, The Prehistory Guys chase down another media headline to find the hidden treasure! In this case, news of a new date for old London conceals the real story: the first use of a new and exciting archaeological dating technique for pottery. Help support us and join our Patreon community See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out inform…

We were saddened to learn of the passing of the great archaeologist. For megalithic enthusiasts, his influence has been profound and that holds true for us and the podcasts and films we make. We couldn't let the moment pass without saying a few words. Help support us and join our Patreon community See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out infor…

The Prehistory Guys talk to environmental archaeologist and conchologist (snail expert) Dr Mike Allen, lecturer at Oxford University and research fellow at Bournemouth University. Help support us and join our Patreon community See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.By Michael Bott and Rupert Soskin

In December 2019 reports began to appear in the media about the discovery of an anomaly in the Callanish landscape on Lewis that pointed to a 5,000 year old lightning strike being the inspiration for the famous monument.The discovery was made by the Calanais Virtual Reconstruction Project, a joint venture led by the University of St Andrews with st…

A couple of podcasts back, we interviewed Professor Bruce Bradley - he of the Solutrean Hypothesis in Paleolithic America. Truth be told, the impetus to contact Bruce Bradley came about because we'd noticed that an outfit called 'Seven Ages Research Associates' in the States had just published an interview with him. It was a bit "if they can - why …

In 1980, archaeologist Julian Richards was invited to direct the 'Stonehenge Environs Project' which had been conceived to better understand the landscape surrounding the monument and to work out ways in which it could be better managed and preserved for the future. Part of the work involved the partial excavation of a small henge on Coneybury Hill…

Please support The Prehistory Guys on Patreon.https://www.patreon.com/theprehistoryguysThough we say this ourselves, this interview with Professor Timothy Darvill OBE, should be required listening for all serious students of archaeology and fascinated amateurs alike. From his own early childhood beginnings in the discipline, to his thoughts on the …

We have to confess we are not as knowledgable about American prehistory as we would like to be. But how could we have done better to begin educating ourselves than to talk to celebrated American archaeologist, Professor Bruce Bradley?Until recently Emeritus Professor of Prehistory and Director of the Experimental Archaeology Masters Programme at th…

The Prehistory Guys are very proud to share with you this fantastic interview with Dr. Alison Sheridan, recently retired Principal Archaeological Research Curator at the National Museums of Scotland.As you'll find out in the first minutes of this podcast, Alison's C.V. is simply spectacular. If there's such a thing as an A-List archaeologist, she i…

Ancient craft and brewing specialist Merryn Dineley, together with her brewing expert husband Graham join us to discus how the general unawareness of the way beer is brewed leads to the evidence for it in prehistory being overlooked. Once the process is understood, then the existence of large vessels, like the Grooved Ware pot from Durrington Walls…

Earlier in December, news articles began to show up reporting the discovery of very old cave art on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. What is significant about the find is that it pushes back the date of the earliest figurative painting a long way, such that this REPRESENTATIVE cave art in Indonesia is of a similar age to the first know ABSTRACT…

We're kicking off our regular interview features with our good friend and colleague Dr. Rick Pettigrew of the Archaeological Legacy Institute in Eugene, Oregon.The photo above is of Rick standing in front of West Kennet long barrow back in September this year when we were on the 'Backbone of Neolithic Britain' tour. The tour was instigated by Rick …

Does our ancient landscape lie to us? Well, there is a sense in which we are deceived ... or is it we who deceive ourselves? Michael and Rupert discuss how our natural instinct for creating meaning out of what we see might lead us a little astray.All this and the regular magazine slots in the latest episode of what is now THE PREHISTORY GUYS podcas…

When things don't seem so great in the present, it's easy to idealise the past.Not so fast!Archaeology has thrown light on some remarkable and truly brutal events in European prehistory recently. It seems that 7,000 years ago a particular phase of angst and conflict in the Neolithic 'Linearbandkeramik' (LBK) culture of central Europe was kicking of…

If we're talking about standing stones and the Neolithic, then we have to talk about origins ... and if we talk about origins we have to talk about the Middle East and Anatolia. If we talk about the Middle East and Anatolia, the names Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe seem to come up. But Tell Qaramel? Tell es-Sultan? Motza? Maybe nearer to home on the D…

It seems ages since we last posted a podcast. But it's only just over a month - it must be that we've been incredibly busy! And some of that business is down to Michael's excursion to Orkney to take part in a three-day field archaeology course at the Cairns Broch dig on South Ronaldsay.Yes, the new trowel was well and truly broken in and in this ep…

Since we began this podcast in March 2018, archaeological facts and finds have been coming at us fast and furious - so much so that it's becoming hard to keep track of what happened where and in what order!So, in an effort to claw back some clarity, we've begun compiling a Timeline of Prehistory.The simple question: "what was going on in the rest o…

Back in November 2018, we found ourselves sitting on the front row for the a lecture in the Wiltshire Museum by Dr. Katharine Walker of Bournemouth University entitled 'Taking Sides, Scandinavian Flint Axe type in Britain'. This wasn't really an accident because, as you probably know, the subject of axe-heads, their meaning, production and trade is…

We tend to thing of our ancient monuments as being special, unique places. But when you begin to count them, it slowly dawns on you that for our ancestors, they were commonplace. In Standing with Stones podcast number 14, Michael and Rupert discuss this aspect of our heritage - and ask whether appreciation of their ubiquity changes our appreciation…

As you'll have guessed already, this month we're off to Cumbria and the Lake District to wander the Great Stone Circles, ponder their purpose and hopefully enlighten you about their grandeur and importance. Oh, and of course, there'll be a boundary pushed, some news, a new stonehead, a question answered and a little whimsey. By the way, if you're i…

"Dartmoor is one of my favourite places in the whole of England, and I've been exploring here for over twenty years. Three hundred and sixty five square miles of rolling moors, with a huge variety of prehistoric structures. It's so unspoilt - in archaeological terms - it gives us a much clearer idea of what the whole country used to be like".So say…

A few weeks ago in the middle of February 2019, articles began appearing in the media linking Stonehenge, sailors and the megalithic culture of Brittany. To us, something didn't smell quite right about that and it didn’t take long to find out that most of these articles were, in one way or another, misrepresenting, and at worst completely mangling …

This month we take an inward look at part of the process that went into the making of Standing with Stones; just how did we choose which sites to include in the film? It's a response to the oft-asked question: "Why the heck did you leave (insert personal favourite site here) out?" We do our best to answer.PLUS: A VERY ancient tiara, a submerged set…

Was there a Beaker revolution? Both Rupert and Michael are surprised to find that despite a lot of detailed archaeological and genetic evidence, there is much confusion as to what exactly was going on in Britain and Northern/Central Europe 4,500 years ago. However, what is clear is that big changes happened, especially in Britain - where wholesale …

In a very special 1 hour 45 minute extended episode (you have been warned), Michael & Rupert explore the science of archaeoastronomy and surprise themselves at how long they are able to talk on the subject. However, there's still time for pushing a boundary, some news, a question, a Stonehead of the Month and a fascinating bit of neolithic audio wh…